JasonJones

Any frags of the mummy eyes left?

Great looking new additions. I was sad you beat us all to the mummy eye!

BTW, time to update that signature!

There are several factors to consider.

Corals generally show signs of distress when alk gets below 5.5 or 6 dkh. Many people base their alk level on providing some cushion above this level. If you run your tank at 10dkh, you have a much better cushion of time to dose before your level gets dangerously low versus running your alk around 7.

Second, alk is one of the two components that affects pH in saltwater. The other is CO2. They work in an inverse relationship. As alk increases, pH rises. As CO2 increases, pH falls. You can use your alk level to maintain a pH you determine appropriate for your tank. Some people will need a higher alk to maintain a certain pH (say 8.2) than others because of a high CO2 content in the house.

Third, your alk level also matters if you are dosing a carbon source. Higher alk levels have been known to cause burning of SPS tips when dosing a carbon source. For this reason, the general advice when carbon dosing is to keep the alk level around NSW (7 dkh or so)

I tend to keep my alk around 9. I have found maintaining a constant dkh to be more important than the acheiving some magic number. Some people claim faster growth rates with higher alk, but I have only found this to be true with higher Ca.

Looking great. Sorry about the pathetic person on RC. I am also very disappointed the mods refused to delete his posts.

The problem with trying to remove the majanos manually is that if any small piece is left behind, they will regrow. This is why I think you should remove the polyp and leather and toss the rock.

Plus, if you try to remove them and a small particle lands on another rock, you stand the chance of them growing there. With pests like these, I find it is much better to simply remove the rock, even if it means losing some desirable corals. I would rather lose one or two corals than have my tank overrun. When that happens, people sometimes give up. Better to cut your losses early. This is the same reason I will toss a frag I just purchased if I find it has something very undesirable on it. So far it has saved me from having any massive outbreaks of damaging pests (besides algae).

Jut cut the toadstool off at the base and attach him to a new rock. Then toss the rock with the majanos on it. Win win.

Is #34) Aussie Ultra Neon Frogspawn a branching or wall frogspawn?

Interesting. I have never looked into the Luxeons, may need to do that.

Thanks for the quick responses!

Calvin, the corals look great. I dont think the echinita was particularly happy with the iodine bath, but settling in.

I remember reading somewhere on here that there is a Tunze rep somewhere in Austin. Anyone know who that is.

I need an L bracket to go from a 6100 to the magnets.

Nice looking setup, I really liked the annodized look.

I think the color mix you have should look great. I just built an led for my wifes nano with very similar LED combos and it came out looking nice. The addition of the red and green diminish the washed out blue look of most LEDs.

90 LEDs is going to be pretty powerful. I normally hear 36 as being equavilent to a 250w halide, although that is with an all CREE set-up. Not sure of the lumen difference with the Rebels.

Looking forward to seeing it progress.

Chris,

How is the tank coming? I was at Calvin's yesterday and heard you were coming by a little later. Sad I missed you.

Hope all is well.

Just a heads up before you place an order: http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/aquatic-connection-161957.html

Great little tank. Looking forward to watching it progress.

Great updates. The entire water system is very well done. Keep it up.

Pros: your alk has farther to fall and still be acceptable. Growth may be increased, but this is usually from higher Ca than alk.

Cons: can burn tips of acros, especially if dosing a carbon source. Greater chance of precipitating Ca and alk if you don't keep Mg levels high

Before you do, I would do a search for cadlights on reef central. People have had a lot of problems with their shipping and customer service, lots of broken tanks However, most people are very happy with the tanks. My roommate had one of their 12g tanks, and the tank was very nice.

Great catch! While having a controller is certainly not necessary, they sure can be helpful.

I would personally stay away from CAD lights, unless you buy it used. I have read a number of stories if people receiving broken tanks and it taking a month or two to get it corrected from CAD Lights. Which is very unfortunate because their tanks are really nice.

I don't think there are any of the AIOs I would be happy with. They all have strong limitations. I would probably set up a 30l with a sump if I were in your shoes. Enough room to have some decent corals, and you can set up the filtration as you desire.

Mangroves are generally used more for aesthetics than actual nutrient removal.

There is one main reason cheato is the most commonly used, although it is not the most effective. Several varieties of caulerpa grow faster and pull out more nutrients; however, the difference is minimal. The problem is, caulerpa can go sexual and release spores into the water that quickly exhaust the oxygen content, often killing the fish. Cheato does not go sexual, which is why most people use it.

Jason,

I agree with the summation as to Chaeto being safer and it is trulely effective. The minimal nutriant uptake difference, I do not agree with. In reading a graduate paper (Univesity of Hawaii) on nitrate/phosphate uptake ratios, certain species of Caulerpa removed 200 times the ratio of phosphate to nitrate as Cheato. Again, it depends on which species of macros were used for the paper. Because of the large amounts of nutriants removed with prunning macro, I decided that it was time to grow something that I could eat instead of composting my tomatoes. I am experimenting with "Sea Chips), Caulerpa Prolifera dried and misted with olive oil and seasonings.

Try it, you'll like it.

Patrick

Interesting, do you happen to have a copy or link to the paper? I would like to learn more about it. I have always heard the difference was not that significant.

From my understanding, unless this has changed in the last year or so, the hanna alk and phosphate meters are considered reliable, but not the calcium. I remember reading several articles and decided to purchase the other two, but not the calcium, as a result.

Mangroves are generally used more for aesthetics than actual nutrient removal.

There is one main reason cheato is the most commonly used, although it is not the most effective. Several varieties of caulerpa grow faster and pull out more nutrients; however, the difference is minimal. The problem is, caulerpa can go sexual and release spores into the water that quickly exhaust the oxygen content, often killing the fish. Cheato does not go sexual, which is why most people use it.

I met with Charles several times four years ago when I spent a summer in Hawaii and he expressed the same sentiments. As we walked around the Waikiki aquarium and he discussed the tanks, he spent a lot of time focused on the natural biology of each tank versus the equipment. It was very inspiring to see what they were able to do there with a moderate amount of equipment.

I was, though, always curious how much of his opinion was influenced by the unlimited supply of natural sea water they were able to use. The benefits of natural sea water versus the artificial water we are forced to use here are tremendous.

What are your goals for the tank and what kind of corals/fish do you want to keep? That will help when it comes to suggestions.

I respectfully disagree with the above two. I think the amount of rock you have is fine, but I would probably rearrange it some.

Use some epoxy, superglue, acrylic rods, or other materials to make a nice rock structure that is more open with caves and overhangs, etc...

Here is a small example of what I mean. This is a 12g I put together for my wife. It has only 6 lbs of rock, and about 10 different pieces of rock, that were all glued together.

I will take the red planet.

PM me with paypal info and I will send money your way.